Crestwood’s Ways and Means Committee voted to make cuts totaling more than $150,000 to the city’s recommended 2015 budget in an effort to reduce a projected deficit.

The committee met twice last month to review the proposed budget, voting to cut $100,000 for building maintenance and improvements from the capital improvement fund and $54,279 from the park and stormwater fund. Including those cuts, the proposed 2015 budget recommended by the Ways and Means Committee projects total expenditures of $12,759,916 with anticipated revenues of $12,008,800 — a deficit of $751,116.

Roughly $400,000 of that deficit is from the Spellman Avenue reconstruction project, Ward 1 Alderman Darryl Wallach noted last week during a Board of Aldermen work session on the proposed budget.

Ward 2 Alderman Tim Trueblood noted the Spellman Avenue project started under a different administration and board.

“… I’m not saying that to demean anyone who was on the board then …,” he said. “My point is it’s not something this board … made a decision to spend and it turned out to be more than we thought it would be. And it wasn’t (City Administrator) Mr. (Mark) Sime’s decision to say, ‘Hey, board, we need this.’ It was here when he came.”

That $400,000 cited by Wallach “would make a big difference in what our ending fund balances are going to be,” Trueblood said.

Wallach and Trueblood serve on the Ways and Means Committee with Mayor Gregg Roby.

Ways and Means Committee members discussed at length Sime’s request for $400,000 for building maintenance and improvements. A list Sime has compiled of needed projects carries a price tag of roughly $1.9 million.

“… I would just like to go on record as saying that I have reviewed this list,” Roby said during an Oct. 21 meeting of the Ways and Means Committee. “I remember basically this list from when I was an alderman in 2006-2009, and the total number was in the couple-hundred-thousand (dollar) range. It’s now up over $1.8 million, and my concern is that we continue to have issues, buildings that need repair that we just put off …

“I just can’t see how we can continue to do this by piecemealing, picking individual projects. We need to find some way to jump in and take care of these, these current issues, before this $1.8 million or $1.9 million number ends up being $2.5 million.”

He continued, “… It’s no different than owning a house. If you get a little hole in the roof and you don’t address it, before you know it, it becomes a bigger problem. Because it’s not just the shingles that have a hole, it’s your subroof, the plywood gets rotten, and then it drips down into your attic and it gets your insulation all wet. And then it gets through that to your ceiling, your plaster ceilings or drywall, and next thing you know, those are soggy and falling out. And so it continues to grow.”

Roby said he believes the city is “getting to a point where we may need and the board’s going to need to discuss ways to generate this revenue to get these things taken care of …”

Some of the items on the list are related to the aquatic center and may be more appropriate for the park and stormwater fund, Wallach said.

“I think that’s probably the better option to go,” he said, “But I do recognize the concerns that were raised by the mayor, and there are $1.9 million worth of renovations that’s needed … My only concerns, though, with the $400,000, if you allocate it, which I think is great — great. The only thing is with the budget that we’ve got in front of us, it’s a stretch …”

Noting $200,000 was allocated last year, Wallach continued, “… It’s needed, don’t get me wrong, but within the budget that we’ve got, I’m concerned that $400,000 might be too much for this year.”

Sime replied, “… When we looked at the list, we looked at all of the items and the list will continue to grow as we find more items. But we looked at a reasonable time period to try and get some of these completed. And that’s where we came up with the $400,000 …

“If the city can afford that, that’s what we need to start making a dent in this list, rather than let it go. If the Ways and Means (Committee) and the board decide they can’t afford that, we’ll take what you give us and use it most effectively …”

With the list at roughly $1.9 million, even with $400,000 allocated, it would take five years to complete the list “with nothing added,” Sime said.

Roby later noted, “… This is just strictly building maintenance, folks. This isn’t vehicles — plows, dump trucks, skid steer loaders or any of that kind of equipment. This is just strictly building maintenance and maintenance of our facilities.”

Wallach later expressed concerns about the size of the proposed deficit, but noted much of it is attributable to the Spellman Avenue project.

He initially made a motion, seconded by Trueblood, to reduce Sime’s request for $400,000 for building maintenance and improvements to $200,000.

Wallach also said he believes the board needs to discuss the amount of reserves the city wants to maintain on an annual basis.

“… But we haven’t as a board come to that decision as to what rainy-day funds should be for that amount,” he said. “And since we haven’t made that decision yet, that’s why I think it’s appropriate to have a budget (that’s) balanced for the budget of 2015 the best that we can. So that’s why I feel it’s appropriate to reduce that maintenance item to $200,000 …”

Roby said, “… Alderman Wallach, I respect what you’re doing here, but I think an even more appropriate question that I would have is: What means of improving our revenue situation can the board recommend? We’re currently sitting here looking at this $901,000 that we’re trying to cut, but we haven’t offered any recommendations for revenue increases. And as I said earlier, this list of projects is just going to continue to grow.”

After further discussion, Wallach amended his motion to reduce Sime’s request by $100,000 — to $300,000 from $400,000.

Roby said, “… I’m still going to challenge the board to establish some form of … ideas for revenue generation.”

Trueblood asked, “Do you think they’ll throw that back to Ways and Means?”

Roby said, “I don’t know. I hope not … I firmly believe that you cannot as a city continue to allow your assets to deteriorate at the expense of balancing your budget. If we’ve got excess funds in our budget, they’re there because we’ve saved money in previous years …”

For the parks and stormwater fund, Ways and Means Committee members also agreed to cut $17,000 from park improvements, reducing that amount to $23,000.

In addition, the panel voted 2-1 to reduce wages for part-time employees by $37,297. Roby was opposed.